Most educational institutions require that the student demonstrate recollection of specific items of information or categories of information. A test or examination is one well-known means by which a teacher establishes whether a student has grasped the information which was communicated during a particular course, seminar, workshop, or the like. Not only must the student establish that categories of information have been learned, but it is also frequently necessary for the student to establish that particular items of information within that category have been learned or memorized. A student may be called upon to demonstrate this recollection on more than one occasion, so there is frequently a need for the student to be able to demonstrate recollection of items of information which were "learned" at some point in the past.
Mnemonics is the art of improving or developing the memory, and incorporates a number of tools utilized by students for assuring that information not only is learned but remains learned. One tool of mnemonics is the use of flashcards, either prepared by the student or otherwise produced. A flashcard may have any shape, size, or material of construction, but generally is a relatively small, flat, two-sided piece of stiff paper. A 3.times.5 index card is one well-known format for a flashcard, and because it is blank it permits the student to select the information which is to be learned. The flashcard typically has a first or "cue" side on which a question or item of interest is written, printed, or the like, and a second or "response" side on which the answer is likewise placed. The student, through use of the flashcards, can test his or her memory with regard to the responses, to the questions on which the responses are based, or any other recognition system.
A particular advantage of student-created flashcards is that the student is called upon to distill or cull from a larger body of information particular information items of interest. Each student will generally select items of information uniquely of interest to him or her, so that flashcards created for one student may not be of much assistance to another. In addition, because the student is called upon to create the information for the cue and response sides, then the selection process itself forces the student to concentrate upon what he or she is doing and thereby reinforces the memory with regard to that information.
Yet a further advantage of flashcards is that their order may be altered, flashcards for different subject areas may be combined in order to prevent a rote memorization response, and they may be discarded or removed from the set once learned or no longer of primary relevance. Alternatively, flashcards may need to be reviewed only on some infrequent basis, so that they may be temporarily discarded for ultimate reuse.
Personal computers have made many changes in the educational environment, not the least of which is through educational games seeking to enhance or reinforce the learning capabilities of students. Educational games and like software, however, are not tailored to the individual student. Thus, the software will provide information about a particular subject to all students, but the information thus provided may not be of interest or assistance to a particular student. In addition, because the student will not have participated in selecting the information presented by the software, then there is no selection process providing for initial recognition by the student of the information. Also, while the software may assist the student in learning certain items of information in that subject matter, applicant is not aware of any educational software permitting the student or user to selectively review previously learned information and/or permitting selective review of the information in a sequence chosen by the student.
In can be seen from the above that there is a need for computer software which will permit a student to initially select the information which is to be subject to review, and which will thereafter permit the student to review that information in any sequence and format desired. The disclosed invention meets these needs and overcomes the noted disadvantages through use of computer software permitting the student to create simulated flashcards which may be thereafter combined, sorted, and reviewed when and how desired by the student.